Ep. 103 - Corliss Rassyle - You Are Responsible for What Happens Next

A side hustle you try “for two weeks” is not supposed to rewrite your life, but that’s exactly what happens for Corliss Rassyle. We sit down with the Canadian speaker, success principles coach, and founder behind Lead Conference Canada to unpack the real leadership journey behind the highlight reel: the doubts, the pivots, the hard seasons, and the moments where faith and purpose finally click into focus.

Corliss talks about the success principle that still guides her leadership mindset: we are not always responsible for what happens, but we are responsible for what we do with what does.

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Transcript

Welcome And Guest Introduction

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Welcome to the Leader Impact Podcast. We are a community of leaders with a network in over 350 cities around the world dedicated to optimizing our personal, professional, and spiritual lives to have impact. This show is where we have a chance to listen and engage with leaders who are living this out. We love talking with leaders, so if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions to make this show even better, please let us know. The best way to stay connected in Canada is through our newsletter at LeaderImpact.ca or on social at LeaderImpact. And if you're listening from outside of Canada, check out our website at leaderimpact.com. I'm your host, Lisa Peters, and our guest today is Corless Rasil. Corless is a Canadian inspirational speaker, certified success principles coach, dare to lead trainer, and the founder and CEO of Corless Co-Consulting Incorporated, based in Saskatchewan. She is the best-selling author of Lead Your Life, How to Live with Purpose, Passion, and Confidence, and hosts one of Canada's leading self-improvement podcasts, Conversations with Corless. Corless is also the visionary founder and the host of Lead Conference Canada, empowering individuals to lead their lives with intention and impact. Welcome to the show, Corless.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

I'm so happy to be here. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

I am so thankful for you. I know we had been friends, but my first time I really got to hear from you was the Lead Conference Canada. And uh you blew me away with I mean, can't Jack Canfield was there. Yeah, that was while he was met. And the other lady who's uh Arlene Dickinson. Arlene Dickinson, how could I forget that? Yeah, and Christina Kuzmich. Yes, and then some local, but it was, I was like, how does Corless do this? But you just believe. Like, you believe. You have such a strength.

SPEAKER_01 1:51

I do believe, and I also believe it's guided by God. So uh it's so much bigger than me, and I knew it was right from the beginning, and I knew that everything that was supposed to happen would happen, and it did.

SPEAKER_00 2:02

Yeah, yeah. So we're gonna dive right in because I'm excited to hear more about your story. We love hearing people's stories and uh the professional story on how you how you got to where you are today, the journey. But we mostly want to hear about those pivotal turning points, and if you have one or two that you could share.

Lead Conference And Bigger Calling

SPEAKER_01 2:19

Sure, I'd love that. Um, first of all, I really do appreciate you giving me the opportunity to share my story. I think it's so beautiful. I believe that when we hear each other's stories, even though our circumstances are different and where we're at is different, where our backgrounds somehow we're all connected through um what we experience in life. And it's a real pleasure for me to have a chance to actually share with you. Um, so there's a few things. There's a couple things here on my professional journey. The first one is that I fell into a direct sales company. And I say fell into it because I really feel like I did. I feel like it was all guided, it was all exactly as it was supposed to be. But when I joined this company, my only goal was to do it for a couple of weeks. You know how you have this full-time job and you're just gonna do a side hustle, and then the side hustle ended up becoming my full-time career. And it was one of the most beautiful experiences. It is why I believe that every single one decision can completely change the direction of your life. And that one decision did. And I didn't even know it was a big decision at the time. So I joined Party Light on a whim, just expecting to get a few candles, some extra cash. That's all I was doing it for. And it turned into that the reason I started wasn't the reason I stayed. So I started for me, and I ended up staying because I discovered that it would actually give me an opportunity to fulfill a bigger purpose in my life where I could actually take what I learned, what I knew, the business became a vehicle for me to actually help other people. So I always say that I went from lighting homes to lighting lives, and that is actually what kept me there from I was there for I started for two weeks and I ended up being there for 28 years. So it was pretty extraordinary. Yeah, it was a beautiful thing. And it gave me such an incredible opportunity to align myself with my values of helping people, but also staying home to raise my three kids. And it was just honestly just beautiful. Everything about that company was beautiful and it helped me grow into who I am today and prepared me for what's next.

SPEAKER_00 4:22

I don't think ple people believe in like, can I really make a side hustle work? Can I really make my passion work? But you found so much more than lighting candles.

Side Hustle That Became A Career

SPEAKER_01 4:31

I did, but I it also gave me an opportunity to make a living. I mean, what an incredible opportunity it gave me. I was able to stay home. I so I had my children. So when I started, I had no children. So I had my first daughter, and that was when I was like, I don't want to make, I don't want this to be a side hustle now. I want this to be a career where I can stay home and raise my daughter. And every time I looked into her big, beautiful blue eyes, I was like, I have to figure out how to make this work. And honestly, there was no plan B. For me, it was plan A. And people would often say to me, How do you do it? Like, how do you have so much success? How do you sell so much? How do you have have you how have you built such a big team? And I was like, There's just no other option. They said, Don't you get no's? And I'm like, all the time. I just don't pay attention to them because there is no other option for me. I need to stay home with my daughter, and I'm so blessed and so lucky that I have the opportunity to do so. I'm just gonna make it happen, and that's all there is to it. Yeah. Wow. And then I mean, from there to so from there, so yeah, yeah. So how you're like, how did that happen? Yeah. So here's what happened. So around the 22 or 23 year mark, I really started feeling unsettled. So I was blessed and I was grateful. I mean, I got to work from home. I had had and raised my three children, built my business, helped other women grow. I traveled the world. I mean, I was the person that one time I was outside of um Ottawa, I was in Ottawa actually, and I was on this big, beautiful uh leader retreat, and they had these limousines lined up for us outside. I remember, I can't remember the name of the drive, but it was like, you know, right by the Parliament buildings. And I was hustling to get out there, and we were all in evening gowns. We were going to this big event, and I remember coming out the door, and I was so shocked because there was all these people there with cameras, and it was like a paparazzi because all the limousines were lined up and they were like, This must be movie stars. So when I came out, somebody started taking pictures and they're like, There she is, there's Meg Ryan. I was like, What? What's going on? They thought I was Meg Ryan. I was so taken aback that I went to go get into the limousine and I put my bum in first and my legs kicked up and kind of went out and I kind of fell into the car. And people were taking pictures, and I was like, Well, tomorrow there's gonna be big news headlines that Meg Ryan fell into this car. But they thought I was her. Like it was such an extraordinary opportunity. But around, you know, 22 years, I just started feeling like there was something more. I just didn't know what it was, and I didn't want to give up. I had security there, right? So I didn't want to give up what I'd built. And I was also really grateful for what I had. But, you know, you get that feeling that you're just like unsettled, there's something else. So it turns out that I stayed there for a few more years and had that unsettled feeling. And then my personal life kind of came crashing down. And when my personal life came crashing down, my professional life kind of came crashing down with it. And I was faced in this very dark time of like, what do I want this to look like now? And I realized that I could either quit ignoring that little knowing inside of me, or I could really start to follow what I felt called to. And that's when I that's what I did. I kind of went back to the drawing board and said, What do I really love about my business? What do I really love to do? And how can I expand this? And one of the things about this, Lisa, that is really important is this is why I believe that everything happens for us and it happens through us to help us become who we're here to be and to fulfill a bigger purpose. And how I looked at Party Light at that time was I was doing it for me. It had, it was giving me a living. I was grateful for what it had. But because I was called for more, it wouldn't go away because I was called for more. And I had to like kind of go within myself and really do some deep reflection about like what am I supposed to be doing? Like, I was actually asking God, help me figure out what I'm meant to do. And what I realized was that I had an opportunity because I had been on the stage, I had been backstage, I had been in the audience learning that if I was to take all of those experiences and all those skills and all those talents and everything I've developed through my party-like career, that I could use it for a bigger purpose. And now I could create something where anybody from any walk of life could come to this event and learn and grow. And I was the one who could create that for them. So that's what ended up evolving. So I ended up doing it for a couple more years, kind of under the wire. And then the pandemic happened, and they actually changed the business model anyway. And immediately when that happened, instead of being really crushed and devastated about it, I immediately knew I was being released from what I was not supposed to be doing and guided towards what I was supposed to be doing. And that's where my company kind of took off and where Lake Conference Canada Vision came together.

SPEAKER_00 9:35

You know, I have the exact same story in that I felt like COVID released me from what I was doing. I I loved events, I had a corporate event management firm, but COVID shut it down. And then all of a sudden it's like I I just found this. Okay, God, what else am I supposed to do? But I I felt a happiness. It's like, okay, I got released. But sad because you lost a lot of money and there's, you know, yeah. But you know, you I just knew that I've I'll find I'll find the purpose.

SPEAKER_01 10:02

So I have so I need chills as you're saying that because I really feel that. Like I really feel it. I feel like when we're in, you know, the hardest of times and the most challenging, we we don't know how we're gonna get through it. We don't know how it's gonna work out, but we really do have to trust. It's one of the life lessons that I've I've you know, kind of adapted into my world that I just have to trust and believe that it's all happening exactly as it's meant to. And it's not until years later when I look back and see that it happened for me, you know, it's really the way it was supposed to be, and to really trust that and believe that in advance.

SPEAKER_00 10:39

Yeah. It's it's I think and surrounding yourself with people that like when you're in it, um I I call it the suck. It sucks. Like sometimes when you're in it, but to surround yourself with people that can um talk positive to you and and pray for you and you know, or just love on you, right? And say, Yes, we're gonna do this, like I have faith in you. Um now we want to talk about uh your best principle of a success, uh, if you have one and if you have a story to share for that.

Unsettled Success And Pandemic Pivot

SPEAKER_01 11:06

Uh I do actually. So Jack Canfield is uh a mentor of mine. So I'm gonna just take it back just a real quick short bit because in 2017, on March of 2017, I was trying to recreate my life. So I was like, what's the next phase gonna look like? And here it was my problem. My problem was I had no idea. I had lived the life that I'd lived for so long that I never really thought about what was past that. So I went back to the drawing board and I decided I'm gonna like look through magazines and I'm gonna start like visualizing, getting some idea of what I want because that's a tool that's really worked for me for a long time. So I'm flipping through magazines, and the more I'm flipping through these magazines, the more upset I'm getting because I have no idea what I want to do. I literally have no idea. So all of a sudden, I flip the page and there's this little ad that says first after 40. And I was like, wait a second, I know why I don't know what I want to do. It's because I have no idea what I like anymore. I I haven't, I've lived for my family, I've lived for my career. I I literally don't know. And here I am in my 40s, going, I have no idea what I want. So I was like, maybe I'll give myself permission to try some things for the first time. So I put like speak Spanish, learn piano, go surfing, and it kind of got me excited about some ideas about what I could do next. And that triggered something in me. That inspired me to be like, what else is possible? So then on the center of that vision board, I put the words highly educated, and I put a picture of Tony Robbins, Jack Canfield, and Oprah Winfrey. Now, this was in March of 2017. So I put these pictures on there, and I'm honestly thinking that I am going to read their books. Like, I have no idea how it's gonna work out, right? I'm like, I'm just gonna read their books. So it turns out that I ended up taking Jack Hanfield's training for becoming a best-selling author, and that was in June. And by that December, I was sitting in his house on his couch. I know, I know. This literally happened in like nine months. So March, I put him on there. June, I ended up being invited to, or I take his program. I bought his program to learn how to be a best-selling author through Jack, one of my favorite authors, so that made sense to me. And then in December, I or November, I ended up getting invited to come or to apply for his mastermind. I applied. And can you believe I was at Tony Robbins when they did the interview with me? And as I did this interview, they're like, You're the perfect fit. We want you to come, you know, come and be with Jack Hamfield. So two weeks later, I was sitting in Jack's house. And what's interesting about that, too. So remember, I said I put Tony, Jack, and Oprah on this board in the center of my board. It's literally on the wall behind me. And as I walked into Jack's house, shaking, trembling, like I cannot believe I'm here. He told me to find a seat where I was most comfortable. So I was going to find the seat that was the most visible, the best seat in the house. I sat down, he came in, he said, It's interesting you decided to sit there. And I said, Oh my goodness, is it okay if I sit here? And he said, Yeah, but that's where Oprah sat two weeks ago when she was here. And I remember thinking, it was, I literally put it on my vision that this is what I wanted. And here I am. So in that house, in his house, at that mastermind, this could brings me back to the success principle number one, which is to take full responsibility for your life. 100% full responsibility for your life. And I actually said to Jack, I'm really struggling with that. It's success principle number one, and I do not see how we are all responsible for our lives. There are so many injustices that happen. There's sometimes we're victims of things. How can somebody who gets a disease be responsible for that? Or somebody who loses someone they love. Like, how? How is that possible? And Jack said to me, I understand what you're why you're asking me this, but he said, we're not responsible for what happens, but we are responsible for what we do with what does. And that really stuck with me. And it sticks with me even now. There are always going to be things that happen in our lives. I mean, your company shutting down your business or pandemic shutting down your business, my company shutting down during it. That's just one example. There's all kinds of things that happen in our lives. And we are not responsible for some of those things that happen externally, but we are responsible for what we do with what does. There have been people that I've interviewed that have taken the worst situations, that have had so much pain, so much suffering, and they've turned it into purpose. They've used it for something better, or they've they've taken the lesson and they've made themselves better because of it. So that is the principle that has really been guiding me ever since and something I come back to often. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 15:59

That's a great story and a great principle. Um, in 2017, where were you in your life as a mother? Like were the kids because MCS, right? Like all of a sudden it's like I have no hockey game to go to. I have no kid.

SPEAKER_01 16:13

No. Actually, okay, so in 2017, that's a great question, actually. Where was I at? So in 2017, here's what was going on in my life. My son was born in 2011. So he was actually in 2017, I was going through a really difficult um custody situation. My girls had just left home. My son, I felt very confident that he needed to be with me and to be with his mom. And he needed me, and I was going through a difficult situation. So my girls, my two older girls had left home already and or had just left home. Both of them were gone. And I was really just kind of gaining my footing of like, okay, this is what life looks like now. I am starting my life over, you know, in a way of I'm not actively parenting my girls. I've got, you know, one son at home. My business is kind of falling apart. It's not what I want to do anymore. So what's next for me? And it turns out I actually held my first event in 2018. So it was a year later where I was, it was a year of transition, I guess, and why I felt like I needed to go back and create a new vision for what I wanted to do.

SPEAKER_00 17:22

Wow. I think those are important to share because I think there's so many women out there that are struggling and thinking, yeah, but I'm in a really bad space right now. I've got this, and then it's like so was I. Like just to share those stories because our lives aren't perfect. And oh we don't talk about it enough. We all talk about the, you know, the social media. What you see is, you know, a lot of people. It's great.

Vision Boards And Meeting Jack Canfield

SPEAKER_01 17:43

No, I want everybody to follow me then because that you'll never see that for me. You'll never see that for me. I I think that um the value, like I here's the thing about sharing stories though, for me. I share the story and the struggle when I'm in it, and I say I'm in it, but the point is not to get sympathy or anything, it's to be real and to be human. I want to be in all my humanness. And the goal of sharing stories is that even if I'm in it, once I found my way through it, I want to come back to it and show you how I did or what I did, or so that it helps somebody else. Or the point of sharing a story is to share it so that they can see they're not alone. And you know, I'm gonna stay intent on that because sometimes you see people sharing their stories, but they're sharing them very much from the place of like victimhood, of like, everybody feel sorry for me, pick me up. And that's not the place I want to come at it from. I want to come at every story that I share is very intentional in the support of what I'm going through, can help other people grow through it as well. So instead of just focusing on the wound, I like to focus on the healing that comes through it in support of other people.

SPEAKER_00 19:00

Which is leading right into my next question about failures, because I think we both know we learn more from our failures than our own success or failings. Um, I'm wondering if you have something that you could share with us and what you learned.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

Well, I really believe that true character is revealed when you're down, not up. And this is where you find your greatest strength. And there will be lessons, there will be blessings, there will be things that come through it. And oftentimes when we're in it, we don't know until we come through the other side that we see it was it was all happening as it was meant to be. But in those defining moments of like, I'm really down right now, I'm really struggling. As a matter of fact, yesterday I was going through a struggle. I will ask myself, who do I really want to be right now? Like, who do I really want to be? Because this is where I can call on my own depth of character and say, I want to have integrity, I want to handle this with class and grace. I want, you know, you can call on yourself, the greatest part of yourself anytime you choose to. And the best time to do that is when you're in the struggle. Who do I really want to be right now? And and then in the highlight parts, so like in the highest moments of our lives, who do I want to be? Do I want to be gracious? Do I want to be humble? You know, we can ask ourselves those questions in both the lowest and the highest times. We get to choose who we want. That is the one thing that we are all empowered to do. We are all empowered to choose who we want to be and how we want to show up in the world. And it's why we need to develop ourselves to the point that we're like, I feel good about who I am and I'm proud of how I'm living my life. I really believe that's the recipe that's gonna support us at the very end of our lives to say we we lived how we were supposed to live in in God's presence and then who we're here to be. Yeah. So do you have an example of where maybe you have failed and learned from it? Like a oh, I've had so many failures. I'm actually having a struggle figuring out which one I should tell you. Actually, I will I'll share one about Lee Conference Canada. Actually, do you remember the moment when Saturday morning? So on Friday night, Christina. Now, Christina is someone I watched in the darkest moments of my life. And suddenly I have her on my stage at a conference, getting the opportunity to share her with other people. I mean, this was a mind-blowing situation for me. So I brought her on Friday night. I knew she was gonna knock it out of the park, so I had planned in advance that on Saturday I would interview her some more because people were gonna want more of her. So when she came out onto the stage, I don't know if you remember this, but I remember it very significantly because it was a turning point for me. She came out onto the stage and she was like, Look at what you've done. And I was like, Yeah, it's good, hey. Like I just kind of shrugged it off. And she's like, No, no, do you see what you've done? And I was like, Yeah, it's good. You know, everybody's having a great time. She and I still I minimized it again. She sat down, she said, Do you see this? And then It was like, okay, she really the third time hit me. Stop. Yeah. And I was like, you know, I do, but I don't know why I can't give it to myself.

unknown 22:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:12

And I felt like I was having a counseling session for the rest of that on the stage with one of my mentors. But truly, it was like, why can't I ever give it to myself? I always believe that what I do is not enough. And ever since then, I've been peeling back the layers of like, why do I feel this way? Why do why do I feel like I need to prove something? Why do I have to keep trying to like be enough? And no matter what I do, it's not enough. Or I do this extraordinary thing and I still can't even let myself have that or feel good about that. And that that is that has been one of my biggest challenges. It's probably a core belief that I've held about myself for a long, long time. And I have to constantly come back to it over and over again to remind myself that, you know, who I am is great. And it's okay to actually own that. And it comes back to what Nelson Mandela said. He said, when you let your own light shine, you give people unconsciously, you unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. And here's what's interesting about that, Lisa. It's crazy that I will do it for other people. When I heard that quote, it was like unconsciously, I'm gonna give other people permission to do the same. That would inspire me more than doing it for myself. So it's like I'm gonna own it, not for me, I'm gonna own it so everybody else will own it too. You know? So I guess coming back, what was your question originally?

SPEAKER_00 23:40

So I can pull that together? Uh just about failures and successes, and we learn more. And I think at that moment you felt like thanks, it's great. But it's like, no.

Owning Wins And Ending Not Enough

SPEAKER_01 23:51

You know what? It actually felt like it wasn't enough. So in my mind, it was a little bit like a failure, you know, because the the the audience didn't sell out. So as an example, it wasn't a sold-out event. So because it wasn't a sold-out event, well, I guess I failed, right? Yet I had almost 800 people there. And yet, you know, but it's really how we process it. So, and the not enoughness part, you know, that would be so you you get a choice in every situation, you get a choice. Are you gonna learn through it? Are you gonna grow through it? Are you gonna examine it and try to understand and grow and evolve within yourself so that you can um heal it and bring more next time, but not for the purpose of trying to appease or please anybody else, more so that you feel good about who you are.

SPEAKER_00 24:42

Yeah. So um I I I'll take this out if you want, but I'm gonna ask it. Um, I know that right after lead conference, you I think you felt a lot of this, just not enough. But people came at you on on social media. And I don't know if you can share more because that was really hard for you. And I know you you brought it out a little bit on social media, and I probably didn't follow up, but that you it hurt. I don't know if you can talk about, yeah.

Public Criticism And How To Respond

SPEAKER_01 25:10

It actually still makes me teary. So I, you know what, go ahead and keep it because I think it's one of the most terrifying things for people to um put themselves out there in a real and authentic and vulnerable way and to do everything that they can, but you were still human and we can make mistakes and we can say it wrong, or people can judge it, or they can take whatever and they make assumptions about you. And then when they publicly attack you, it is it is hard. It's one of the things that stops people from even going there. They're like, I'm just not even gonna risk it, you know? And in my case, I genuinely never even thought about it. It never once crossed my mind until I was blindsided by it. You know, I I had thought about like how scary, who am I? I had the imposter syndrome and all that stuff. I had that, but I never once gave thought to there's gonna be people out there who are gonna attack me for who I am publicly, that this could happen to me. And I genuinely never thought about that. I literally was so ingress, it was just so called in me that I was supposed to do this event and create the space for people and that it was supposed to be safe and beautiful. I was so focused on that for them that I honestly kind of forgot about myself. It just went to the side. So then when it happened afterwards, I I just was very unprepared. I was exhausted, and I just wasn't in the I wasn't in the space to be able to handle it. So in hindsight, here's two things. First of all, whatever what other people think of you is the is up to them. What you have to know is who you are and be grounded in that. And if you feel good about who you are and what you're doing, then it doesn't matter what anybody else says. I learned this through my divorce too. I remembered, I'd just forgotten in that moment. But I remember thinking, my lawyer saying, you know, we need to do this, we need to do that. And and I was like, you know what? I need time to really think about it because I had decided I was going to take the high road every time. No matter what, I was gonna take the high road and do the right thing for me. And that way, that no matter what anybody said, it didn't matter because I knew. So the same thing applied in that situation. The problem was is I I just really didn't expect it. And it was so public and I was so exhausted that I just couldn't, I couldn't see it, you know. So I guess that's the first thing about that. And the second thing is, is I knew, even though how hard it was, again, I knew it was happening for me because I knew that the more that I went and the more that I wanted to do things like this, there was that was gonna happen. And I needed to understand that. And that was my first experience with it. And it took me, it took me a good year, honestly, to to even fully be grounded in that. It was it was really hard for me after that. And then as I kept feeling called to do it again, I was like, Corless, are you sure? Why? Why would you put yourself in that position? And then I was like, I'm going to because I'm called to. I feel it, I'm supposed to do it, so I'm gonna do it, but I have to know that that's gonna happen and I have to be prepared for that. And I have to stay grounded in who I am and that it's gonna strengthen me, and that the right people will always align and the wrong people will not, and that's okay. And I have to just recognize that that could be a part of the journey. Maybe it won't be that time, but there's a chance that it could be. You know, we all make mistakes, and there are gonna be people who will attack you for those mistakes, and then there's going to be people who will be like, I made mistakes too. I think there's a verse in the Bible actually that says, He who is without sin, throw the first stone, something like that. And I'm gonna really practice that where I am not gonna throw stones when people make mistakes. I'm gonna try not to judge them and hoping that that comes full circle, that my example, you know, supports other people and doing that as well. So I am prepared for it to happen. People are always coming from wherever they're at. And I'm gonna forgive myself for my own mistakes. I'm gonna practice not being judgmental of other people and just supporting them. And there is a way to handle things. You know, this particular group, they could have just come to me and said, Hey, you know what? We're feeling this way, and I could have had a chance to like learn from it or grow from it, or they could have attacked me, which is what they chose to do. I'm gonna choose the the first option every time.

SPEAKER_00 30:01

Yeah, core less. Thank you for sharing because I think um there's there's not good people out there, and you we have we have to be ready, as you said, and you weren't, and you are now you know that they are there and you'll be conscious of it. Um it's still it's still it's still crappy and it still will happen, and but we're better prepared for it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:26

You know what? Everybody is wherever they're at on their journey, and I'm not better than anyone else. You know, I I don't want to think I'm better than or anything. I I just really think that we're all on our own journey. We're all we're all here, you know, for a reason, and we're all gonna learn what wherever we're supposed to learn. And God is helping us along with that. And we're all just you just have to do the best you can. This is why it has to come back to like you. It really has to come back to you, your connection with yourself, your connection with something that's bigger than you. We're all here for a reason and to serve that in the best of your ability in how you live your life, in the example that you are. And that's it. You know, some people aren't gonna align because they're in a different place in their journey. So that's okay. We're all here to learn from each other in some way, shape, or form. And we're also connected. So I'm gonna just send love. I'm like, I'm just gonna send love next time. Instead of being broken by it, I'm just gonna be like, you need love. You know, Christina said on the stage, you remember because this was going on during the conference. They knew that I couldn't respond. I was busy with the conference, right? So they knew this was going on the whole time. It wasn't just after. Yeah, it was awful. And thankfully, Christina was there because Christina has lots of trolls. And you remember, I asked her on the stage, I said, Yes, what do you like? What do you what do you think of the trolls? Because I was battling this, like I was going through this, and she said, Oh, it's just somebody who needs a hug. I remember. Do you remember? And we laughed about that because it's true. It was just somebody who needs a hug. And you know, because really, if you're in a place of love and loving yourself and loving your like, you don't go out and try and attack people, you don't go out and try and bring them down, especially somebody who's genuinely trying to do something good. You don't do that, you know. So their hearts are, you know, full of hate or something or resentment or something. So I'm like, you know what? I'm just gonna send them love. So should that ever show up in my life again? I'm just gonna remember that is this all me or is there anything I can learn here? That's the first thing. Is there anything I can learn here? Is there something that can help me grow? And then maybe there is something to look at. So check it out and then consider the source. Is this the source that I should be looking at? And then if it's not, you know what? Release it and send it with love. Bless and release with love.

Faith Led Leadership And Speaking To One

SPEAKER_00 32:50

Yeah, because I think the troll, the devil, wants us to hide, wants us to keep it inside and go, you're no good. Like just stop what you're doing because but you knew the purpose. So thanks for sharing that. So at Leader Impact, we want to grow personally, professionally, and spiritually for increasing impact. And I feel like you already did this, but if you have an example of how the spiritual makes a practical difference in your life as a leader, it does.

SPEAKER_01 33:12

As a matter of fact, sometimes I go into the mode of like do, do, do, do, do. I gotta do more, I gotta do all this. And then I burn myself out. I become exhausted. And even if my intentions are good, you know, that what I'm doing is like serving more people. It's like, wait a second, I am a human being. I am not here to do, I am co-creating with God, but I'm not here to be God. I don't have to do it all. And I have to actually stop and ask myself why? Why am I doing what I'm doing? This is a really big thing for me, where it's like I get caught up in this pattern of like, I gotta do more, I gotta be more, I gotta show up more, I gotta do, you know. And it's like this franticness, and it's like, wait, stop for a second. Why are you doing what you're doing? Does it align with who you are, what your purpose is, what you feel you're here for? Does it serve something that is important in your life in in the big picture? And if not, then I just gotta stop. Like just stop and just pause for a second. So it's like just going in within. You know, every time I speak now, so now I've really pivoted into professional speaking. And and uh oftentimes they'll ask me about that. They'll say, you know, how do you how do you do that? Like I just spoke in Regina actually for 60 straight minutes, and everybody kept saying, we have never seen somebody do it without any slides, without any, and I said, You they said, How do you do that? And I said, I'll tell you exactly how I do it. Before I go out there, I remember that speaking has nothing to do with me. Speaking is all about the people that I'm serving. And I look to the person at the back of the room, not necessarily the actual person, but I just envision the person at the back of the room. What are they feeling? What are they struggling with? What could I possibly help them with? And then I go and I speak to that person because the power of one is really real. And if you can help one person, that person takes that with them everywhere that they go and they influence somebody, and then somebody's influence there that they've touched, and it goes on. So that's why I just really speak to the one person at the back of the room. And I allow God to speak through me. It's like, God, what do you want me to say? Now, don't get me wrong. I know my message, I know what I'm there to say, I know I'm there to support the organizers and what they're trying to do and why they hired me. But I really get grounded in the human beings that I'm there to serve and that I have a voice that I can use to speak in a way that supports people. And I feel like that's God working through me.

SPEAKER_00 35:42

Corless, you're brilliant. I love listening to you because sometimes I think we forget. You know, we walk on stage and it's all about us. Do I look good? Do I, you know, am I funny? Am I and we think like, no, did you earn the right to speak here? Like, are you speak to one person in the back of the room? Are you changing a life? And and let the Holy Spirit speak through you. Like, I yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:03

I can share one thing here. So, Jack Ekstrom, so her um TEDx talk, because I'm about to do a TEDx talk, and what a beautiful opportunity I'm being given here. I never even applied. They came to me and they were like, We love what you're about. You know, do you have a message that you want to bring to the TEDx stage? And I just know, I know God wants me to speak this message. It is very original, and I know I'm supposed to speak it, and it's coming up in the next few months. And in this um supporting program, I've met some really extraordinary coaches and people. And this one woman, her name is Jack Ekstrom, and she uh has a TEDx talk that went millions, like it's got lots of millions of views. She's beautiful, she's a beautiful human being. It's so, it's so lovely. I've had a chance to meet her and and talk with her. Anyway, having said that, she says there's two types of speakers. There's the lighthouse speaker, and then there's the spotlight speaker. So the spotlight speaker is where the spotlight's on me. Everybody look at me. How do I look? It's it's very egocentric, right? Because it's like, look at how I am. I'm out here with a message, I know my stuff, trying to prove that kind of thing, you know? And then there's the lighthouse speaker where it's like you're there to be a lighthouse for other people. I want to be a lighthouse. I want to shine the light to the person at the back of the room because if I can shine a light for the person at the back of the room, my light touches everybody between me and the the me and them, from the stage to the person at the back. So just just remember that. I mean, there's definitely skills to develop and all those things, but every time you speak, I feel like there's you don't have to earn the right to speak. I think that because you're here, you have a voice and you should use it, especially if you're grounded in using it for a purpose, for a reason, in support of someone else.

SPEAKER_00 37:54

Yeah. Oh that was great. Thank you for sharing that. Um, at Leader Impact, we are dedicated to leaders having a lasting impact. So as you continue to move through this amazing journey that you share, uh, what have you considered your faith legacy to be when you leave this world?

SPEAKER_01 38:11

So that was that's an interesting question because I I've certainly considered my legacy, but not necessarily my faith legacy. So I don't know that I have a really great answer for you there. I think in reality, what I really do believe in the power of one. I believe that, you know, if I'm here being the best version of myself and bringing that to the world in whatever capacity I'm capable of, that my legacy lives on through everybody that I touch and every life that I influence. And to me, that's what leadership is. Leadership is about impact and influence. I love what you guys are doing. I'm so grateful I get to be a part of it in some little teeny tiny way. But I think that the more that you can bring your best, you know, to the world, wherever you're at in your journey, you know, we're all evolving, we're all growing. And if you keep growing and sharing that and bringing that to other people, then I think your legacy lives on far past. It goes far further than what the eye can see, and it'll live on way past you even being here physically in the physical form.

SPEAKER_00 39:11

Yeah. I go right back to your comment about the spotlight speaker in the lighthouse, and you are a lighthouse. Like you just shine brightly and and love on everyone when when I see you speak. Um I I feel it. Like it's not just coreless. It's just you, I feel like you're looking right into my soul. So you are you are this lighthouse. Um, thank you for sharing that. That means everything to me. Thank you. Uh so our last question is what brings you the greatest joy?

SPEAKER_01 39:39

My grandson and my dog. Uh, you know, it's the innocence of those two. I was actually thinking about it because of course you had sent me that question in advance. And I was like, what does bring me the own my my most joy? And my grandson is just so I have one grandson, I have another coming up um in July. I'm so excited. And it's such a beautiful thing, but honestly, it's the innocence and the joy of like children. I literally, you know, they say do more that makes you forget your phone. I don't even care about anything when I am with that little boy. It is just so beautiful and so precious. And kind of the same thing happens when I'm with my dog. My dog is just love, he's just pure love, you know. So it's like I can't help but be with him, and he's just love. It's just children and pets are like pure love, and pure love is connected to joy. So those are the two things, honestly.

SPEAKER_00 40:31

Oh, Corless, that was lovely. Uh, I want to thank you for joining us.

SPEAKER_01 40:36

Can I add one more thing? Okay, good. Because you know what? I I this I have to say this, I don't know who needs to hear it. When all that was going down, when Lee Conference was happening, and I stepped on onto that stage the morning of Lee Conference. I can honestly tell you, I felt so much joy. It was like it was gone in a second. Everything that was going on in the external world was literally vanished. And in that moment, I was like, this is nothing but pure joy. I am exactly where I'm supposed to be. So sometimes we look for the external things, you know, the dog and the and the grandchild or whatever. But the other thing is, is when you know that you're on purpose in who you are, exactly where God wants you to be, you will feel joy. And I can honestly say it was like he placed me there himself. It's like he picked me up and just put me right there, even with everything going on externally, and it was like you are exactly where you're supposed to be. And the joy was so beautiful. And that's why I know I'm supposed to do this because God put it right in my heart.

SPEAKER_00 41:45

Yeah. I love that because I believe that. I believe I get, I feel like there's such a joy, as you said, when you know you you are exactly where you're supposed to be. And it could be in a conversation, you know you should have been there, you were placed to be here. You were, and even if it's not joyous, like you you are placed in a conversation, you're like, oh boy god, here we go. You know, but you know that you were placed and it's you know, to do your best. That is oh that brings me joy. That was really good. I'm glad you, I'm glad that you felt you needed to say that. That was awesome. Thank you for inviting me too. Corless, I have loved this last 42 minutes. You're just you are a joy. Thank you for joining us. Now, if people want to reach out for you, they're like, I need to talk to Corless. I'd love to hear more about her, read the books, the podcasts. What's the best place to find you?

SPEAKER_01 42:36

Definitely my website. Yeah. I mean, I'm on all the social, like you'll find me there. Um, but of course, social is like hit and miss, right? What you'll see. Um, so I would recommend my website. You know, every all my services are there. There's lots of free offers there. A link to my podcast is there. And um, you can also sign up for my weekly Kickstart. So Monday Motivation is what I've called it. So every Monday you can get a message direct from me to your inbox. So not a marketing email, but just really a high-touch connect. So um feel free to connect with me on my website. That's the best place. Corlos. Corlus. Corlos.

SPEAKER_00 43:10

All right. Thank you again, Corlus. It has been just a pleasure to be with you. Yeah, right back at you. Thank you again. Well, I want to thank everyone for joining us. If you're part of Leader Impact, you can always discuss or share this podcast with your group. And if you're not yet part of Leader Impact and would like to find out more and grow your leadership, find our podcast page on our website at leaderimpact.ca. You can also check out groups available in Canada at LeaderImpact.ca. Or if you're listening from anywhere else in the world, check out LeaderImpact.com or get in touch with us by email. Info at LeaderImpact.ca, and we will connect you. And if you like this podcast, please leave us a comment, give us a rating or review, share with friends. This will help other local global leaders find our podcast. Thank you for engaging with us. And remember, impact starts with you.